


Give Josie Saltzman A Hug Goddammit!

by Wolf_Keryon7



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: F/F, Love Conquers All, dark!josie, josie saltzman needs a hug, or some other cheesey shit, the Dark is a separate being
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-13
Updated: 2020-12-17
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:47:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 20,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25886812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wolf_Keryon7/pseuds/Wolf_Keryon7
Summary: Josie's been infected with 'the Dark' for just over a month now and Hope has had enough, but what can she do about it?Pedro stumbles upon the answer completely by accident, but can Hope figure it out in time, and is Josie strong enough to win the fight?
Relationships: Hope Mikaelson/Josie Saltzman
Comments: 10
Kudos: 170





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, been a while. So I've actually had this typed up for ages, it was intended to be a one-shot, but I'm hoping that posting the first half will be the kick in the butt I need to motivate myself to finish this.
> 
> Shout out to Naoko, who was both the inspiration for this fic, and the person who's been essential to helping me find any motivation to write, sorry this is taking so long dude, hope the first chapter makes up for it. 
> 
> As always, I hope you enjoy!

A lot had happened recently.

Too much really, if Josie were to be honest with herself.

There had been a new monster every week for months, and new students seemingly pouring in from all over the world, who were, of course, her responsibility to show around and help settle in.

She’d met, been buried by, and subsequently killed her bio-mom, all in the same day she turned 16.

Her best-friend had found out he was a ripper, killed someone, and then been forgotten about by seemingly everyone but her.

Oh, and she’d been shot.

And the whole thing had apparently been down to Malivore and Landon Kirby, and fuck her if she knew what that was actually about, she was just glad it was over.

Of course, it wasn’t exactly under favourable circumstances that it had ended.

When Hope had called her from Triad industries headquarters, she’d been so incredibly relieved to hear the older girl's voice that it had taken her a while to realise what exactly she was saying.

She’d only just found Hope, their relationship had been so new and fragile.

After years of mutual pining and longing looks and disastrous dating they’d finally admitted to themselves and each other just how they felt, and it had been blissful.

Then Hope had thrown herself into Malivore, and erased herself from the collective conscience, while Josie sat safe at school, freshly healed thanks to Hope’s blood and completely unable to do anything 300 miles away.

It had been excruciating in those first moments after Hope had hung up, her heart felt like it would implode in her chest.

And then nothing.

It was like a switch had flipped in her brain, and she’d found herself sat on her bed, unsure of why her cheeks were wet with tears and her heart beat hollow in her chest.

In retrospect, that was probably partially the reason she’d been so easily drawn in and manipulated by Vardemus. 

The black magic had been cloying and slimey, and made her feel shaky and weak for hours after, but for those few moments when she’d been using it, she’d felt powerful and strong, and the aching in her chest had been overshadowed by the rush of it.

But soon she’d found herself losing sleep and time in equal measure. Her emotions were all over the place and her anger always a hair trigger away from the surface.

When she was in control of herself it was overwhelming, her body didn’t feel like her own anymore, and she was just so exhausted, but there seemed to be no way out.

When Hope had reappeared in her life, she hadn’t been able to figure out just what it was about this completely random girl that made her blood sing in her veins and her heart beat triple time.

She’d tried to ignore it. Tried to distance herself from the girl. Folded herself more deeply into the grip of Vardemus in an attempt to run from feelings that seemed to creep up from nowhere to make her hands shake and her breathing quicken and her eyes grow glassy with tears that had no source.

It had all been in vain however, because Lizzie had remembered after she’d been hit with that black purge spell, and Josie found herself painfully curious, enough to hop a bus to New Orleans during one of her more lucid moments and hunt down the most powerful witch she knew of.

Freya Mikaelson was everything she’d been described as and more, but when she’d started asking questions Josie had no easy answer to, she’d panicked, lashed out, and promptly blacked out.

When she'd awoken it had been surreal, it was like a waking nightmare as she saw everything through her own eyes, felt her mouth form words and her body move, but had control over none of it. 

She’d watched, trapped in a prison of her own making as some dark, twisted thing had controlled her body and stormed up to Hope, releasing enough black magic to level a small town. 

Memories had flown past her in a stream of snarky remarks, longing glances and powerful magic. The force of it had sent her to the floor, but one thing had been clear.

Hope Mikaelson loved her.

And that was the moment she ultimately lost the battle of wills with the black magic coursing through her.

She watched from behind her own eyes as something, the Dark, as it thought of itself, spoke scathing, vile words to the people she loved most in this world - pushing them further and further away.

But not Hope.

With every cruel word, and every promise that Josie’s feelings had been a lie, Hope pushed closer and closer, refusing to give up her.

It was working too, every time the dark interacted with Hope she could feel its hold over her loosen, and she thrashed against the invisible bonds of her mind, desperate to break free and kiss the girl who had never failed her, never given up despite everything, and ultimately promised to love her.

Always and Forever.

That’s what she’d said, and Josie knew that Hope could be called many things, but never a liar, never a promise breaker.

But it turned into an impossible task as the Dark started doing everything in its power to avoid the Tribrid, leaving rooms, and even the school entirely, when the shorter girl would show up, and shoving Josie further and and further away, until eventually it was a fight just to be conscious in her own mind.

* * *

“We have to do something. This cannot be allowed to continue.”

“What exactly do you expect us to do that we haven’t already tried, Hope?”

The short girl ran a trembling hand through her auburn hair, frustrated beyond belief at the situation she found herself in once again.

Throwing herself into Malivore was supposed to be the answer. It was supposed to keep them safe. Keep Josie safe.

Instead it had caused more problems than it had solved.

Alaric had been thrown from the school and replaced with Vardemus, and honestly, the old British guy had given Hope some major bad vibes, and that was before it’d been revealed that he was actually Clarke in disguise and the whole Josie mess was his fault.

Lizzie had nearly had a mental breakdown believing she was imagining boyfriends for herself.

Rafael had spent months stuck as a wolf, and who knew what sort of long-term damage that had caused.

MG had received no real help for his ripper problem, or counseling after killing Landon.

Penelope had returned from Berlin, not knowing why’d she’d left in the first place, to find a school falling apart, and her best friend quickly being consumed by black magic.

And Josie… Hope didn’t even know where to start, everything she’d done had been for the brunette witch, and it had all been for nothing. 

The monsters had kept coming, Josie had found herself in danger more at school, the one place she was supposed to be safe, than anywhere else. And Malivore hadn’t even died!

And she’d lost months with the girl she loved.

All for nothing. She couldn’t even sacrifice herself right.

She sighed, collapsing into herself a little more, “I don’t know Lizzie, but we need to do something. And soon.”

* * *

The Dark strutted confidently through the halls of the school, a cruel smirk twisting her lips as she wiggled her fingers mockingly toward other students, relishing in the way they would flinch away from her.

A distant part of her flinched too, at the look of fear and resentment that flashed across their faces, but she was quick to squash it down. They were beneath her, and their pain meant nothing if it wasn’t for her amusement.

It had taken months to fully wrest control from Josie, feeding off the discord and insecurity she felt and letting it flourish. With her sister otherwise occupied, her relationship with her father strained, and the feelings of loneliness and inadequacy creeping in it had been easy to sow the seeds of animosity and self-loathing.

And then that ridiculously annoying Hope girl had appeared, and Josie’s heart had ached and yearned and thrashed against her rib cage, though Josie could not for the life of her figure out why.

It had perplexed the Dark too, Hope’s mere presence was enough to send it cringing against the far reaches of Josie’s mind, the affection and care and love pouring off her in constant crashing waves was nauseating. 

How could the Dark be expected to convince Josie to give up, to stop fighting for herself, that no one loved her and she was unworthy of their attentions and affections, when this strange girl would stand before her, bold as anything, and direct endless amounts of unwavering loyalty and support and love at her, for no other reason than she was herself.

It was infuriating. Hope had set the Darks plans back by months! Josie had been so close already to giving up, and then she’d shown up and there was something like fight in her again, something like interest and curiosity and desire.

So the Dark had taken to feeding Josie lies, in any way it could. 

It had whispered of Hope’s affection for Lizzie, and targeted her insecurities. It had pointed out her flaws and weaknesses and mocked the idea that Hope could ever want someone like her. It had dredged up every awful thing she had ever done, some of the memories oddly warped and incomplete, and thrown them at her in her moments of weakness.

But it wasn’t until Josie had remembered who Hope was, and how she loved her, that the Dark had managed to find its footing and claim her mind as its own.

Though it may seem illogical that this was the moment in which it had managed to completely take over, it had in fact made perfect sense in the aftermath.

Josie’s first reaction at remembering who Hope was to her had been an overwhelming sense of joy and relief, but it had been swiftly followed by crushing anxiety and panic and feelings of shame and embarrassment.

And it was in the shock of this that the Dark slipped through and seized control, shoving Josie far back and binding her tightly, letting just enough of her consciousness remain that she could observe the acts committed by her hand, powerless to stop them.

Such as now, as she walked jauntily through the corridors and toward the main lounge, eager to strike fear into those who would undoubtedly be there as she regaled them with her latest plans of destruction and chaos.

Hope wasn’t here, of that the Dark was sure, since she’d personally unleashed those summoned hell hounds into Mystic Falls High with the sole intent of distracting the Tribrid. Well, the chaos it would likely cause was an added bonus.

She intended to inform the students present that she would be recruiting - from all factions, the Dark couldn’t be picky about its disciples - for a revised ‘super squad’ of her own, one that would be free, at her discretion, to come and go from the school and flout the rules as they so pleased in exchange for their allegiance and support in her endeavours.

She didn’t expect that many, if any, of them would be eager to join her ranks, and so she would offer further incentive; those who did vow themselves to her cause, would be spared the heart-ache of being thrown from the school when she sieged control.

Josie had grown up here, her parents had started this school with her and her sister specifically in mind, and as such she held valued and precious knowledge about it. Knowledge like where all of its defenses were, and its offenses. 

Truly, the witch was invaluable to her plans, and she couldn’t be more pleased that that snivelling, pathetic excuse for a ‘man’, Clarke, had been so blinded by his own hatred that he hadn’t thought twice of her whispers in his ear to seduce the girl to the Dark and convince her to practise the oh-so hated black magic.

The smirk maring her face only grew more wicked as she laughed behind eyes that were not her own, but she never made it past the entrance way to the lounge, the words she had so carefully cultivated and prepared never made it past her lips. 

A small body wrapped securely around her legs, hands fisted into the material of her sweater and a head buried itself against her hip until brown curls were all that were visible of the young boy holding her.

She scowled, and twisted her body, but he held on, his small frame travelling with her and impeding her movements. 

“Let go of me.”

The words were as much a threat as an order, but her chest tightened and her tongue glued to the roof of her mouth as wide, teary brown eyes locked onto hers. A trembling bottom lip got caught between small white teeth and her heart beat painfully against the cage of her ribs.

Josie looked down at the tiny witch glued to her, her own eyes wide and body trembling, the room spun and everything blurred, but his eyes burned against her face and the tear tracks on his cheeks made her knees weak.

“Pedro… what-”

And just like that, everything was black. She fell into a dead faint and the chains tightened further about her as the dark panicked and raged.

* * *

When she wakes, it is in an unfamiliar part of the forest, trees stretch about her for miles and birds sing from branches high above.

A white wolf sits proud before her, yellow eyes blazing a hole through her and she smirks. Hope just wouldn’t give up.

It would be cute, maybe aweing even, if it weren’t so gods be damned annoying. Whatever that little incident earlier had been, with the small witch who had attached himself about her and somehow brought Josie to the surface of their currently shared body, the Dark would bet its entire existence that this wolf had been the architect of it.

She stood, circling the wolf where she sat, unmoving, unflinching, it barely appeared she was breathing, and if not for the way her ears would occasionally twitch and her fur would shift in the breeze, the Dark might have assumed she were an apparition, or a statue.

“You just don’t know when to quit, do you puppy?” She grinned, a vile, twisted thing that didn’t sit right on Josie’s kind face, but the wolf didn’t react.

“She’s not here, and whatever it was you did, whatever it is you think you’re doing, it won’t work. You will not win this fight, Hope Mikaleson.”

The wolf yawned, muzzle pulling back to display dozens of gleaming, white, razor-sharp teeth, but she showed no other reaction.

It was unusual. Hope had never before faced her in such an aloof, uncaring manor. In fact, the complete lack of obvious love and affection for the girl who once lived in this body was more unnerving than probably anything else she could have thought to throw at her.

The silence made her antsy, her skin crawled with an unfamiliar feeling and she found a part of herself longing for the ocean-deep blue eyes that would gaze at her with love and want and need. She shook her head, gritting her teeth and snarling at the wolf.

“It won’t work! Josie is gone, accept it! She will never love you again!”

Unknowingly, the Dark had slipped up in a grave way, and the white wolf gazed at her in curiosity, before standing and bolting off into the trees at a pace she had no hope of following, even if she’d had the desire.

She stood, bemused and exhausted, too tired to stop the soft smile that slipped along the edges of her mouth.

* * *

Hope paced up and down the length of the room at a dizzying speed, even MG had had to look away after a while, a sick feeling creeping up on him as he watched her.

When Hope had returned from the woods with a smile on her face, everyone had been ecstatic. Surely, if the Mikaelson Tribrid were smiling, it meant something good had happened. Surely, it meant that they may actually have a way to get Josie back.

But the smile on her face had soured at their questions, the powerful girl growing more and more frustrated as she failed to provide answers that held any weight.

Lizzie had scoffed when she’d explained why she’d been so happy, how the Dark had lost its temper and shouted and admitted Josie loved her.

“That doesn’t mean anything! Just because you’re a masochist and happy to take whatever abuse she throws at you, it doesn’t mean Josie is coming back! It doesn’t mean we’re any closer to finding a way to save my sister!”

“But don’t you get it? It’s never raised its voice before, it’s never been bothered by anything I say or do. And it’s always saying that Josie never loved me, that her feelings were a lie she told me because she felt bad! Something has it spooked, I just need to figure out what…”

Hence the pacing. Hope had been muttering to herself at first as well, but that had stopped when Lizzie had pointed out how much of a crazy person she was starting to sound like.

She turned, so quickly the other occupants of the room worried she’d give herself whiplash, a slightly crazed glint entering her eyes. Lizzie actually squeaked in fright at the manic way she was smiling.

But she didn’t have time to explain her thought process, she needed to speak to the last person who had seen Josie.

Hope had taken her out into the forest after her fainting spell of course, but someone had been with her right before that had happened.

So without waiting for the others, and without saying a single thing to any of them, she fled the room.

* * *

The younger grades weren’t housed with the older, for obvious reasons, their dormitories were halfway across campus in fact, and though Hope herself had once resided in them, it had been many years since she’d last stepped foot there.

As a result, it took her a lot longer than she would have prefered to find the little witch she’d come for, and she wasn’t proud to admit that, in the end, she’d resorted to simply sniffing him out, following the scent of peanut butter and almond soap that always clung to him.

He was in one of the social rooms, sitting quietly in a corner by himself with a book open on his lap and the Tribrid frowned at the thought that he was being ostracised from his peers, but it was an issue she’d have to confront later, for now, she desperately needed his help.

She was a couple feet away when he spoke, flipping a page nonchalantly in a way that made Hope think he’d never actually been reading, “Hi, Hope.”

A soft smile stole across her face, Pedro was one of her favourite witches at this school, but the hollow way he spoke to her in the moment made her heart squeeze painfully tight in her chest, “Hey, Pedro, what’cha reading?”

He turned the book towards her, and Hope was very careful not to let her shock show at the title; Advanced Human Trans-Mutation and it’s Counter Rituals.

That wasn’t something even taught at Salvatore, so where had he procured it from?

She shook her head, vowing to sit down with the little witch after this was over and figure out just what was going on in his head, “Cool. So, uhm, I heard you had a bit of a run in with ‘Dark Josie’ earlier?”

Pedro nodded slowly, closing his book and placing it to the side to turn his full attention to the older girl.

His eyes gazed into her, wide and curios and a little too aware for his eight years, and it unnerved her a little bit to see him so solemn and serious where usually he was happy and bouncy and eager as a puppy to get into mischief with her.

“Do you think you could tell me what happened?”

He nodded again, his bottom lip caught between little teeth as he frowned at her, but his eyes remained distant and she knew he was just trying to think, “She always looks so mad. And, I thought, if I hugged her, maybe Josie would come back. My Josie, who reads with me and always saves me peanut butter cookies,” Hope’s heart broke for him, she knew exactly how he felt.

“And I think she did! But then she fell and everyone was shouting and it hurt my ears so I came here.”

The Tribrid squinted in thought. This whole time, they’d been fighting the dark as if it were a regular monster, one that currently possessed Josie’s body granted, but a regular monster all the same. And maybe they’d been wrong to do that.

The more Hope thought about it, the more sense it made. Why, out of every witch, werewolf and vampire in the school, had it chosen Josie? Why had it been so adamant about isolating her from her friends and family, and Hope in particular? Why had it fed off her negative emotions and pushed her to act so harshly toward others?

It couldn’t exist in an environment of love.

Of everyone in the school Josie was easily one of the most powerful, and also the one who probably felt the least loved. She had a tendency to put everyone else before herself, and after years of doing that, she had come to expect everyone else to put her last too.

Her sister had been on another continent with her absentee mother, her father had been behaving erratically and barely keeping himself alive, he was in no position to offer support and love.

The other witches at the school largely ignored Josie, some out of jealousy, some out of the unfounded belief she would report everything and anything to her dad, some because of Lizzie - there were a multitude of reasons but the end result was the same. 

Penelope was the one witch who had ever bothered to get to know Josie, but after their memories of Hope were restored, she suddenly remembered just why she’d left for another continent, and it had left Josie and her unsure of where they stood.

The wolves had a pack and large and by didn’t tend to form more than passing acquaintanceships with any other student, Rafael had been the exception to that rule, but he’d been stuck as a wolf for months and still grieving his brother so he’d hardly been someone she could turn to.

The vampires were just as cliquey as the witches and wolves, and frankly, most of them were terrified of the twins on principle. They were siphoners, and their father was one of the most famous vampire hunters in recent history. MG had been their exception, but as a running theme in Josie’s life at the time, he’d been getting over the trauma of killing someone and discovering he was a ripper.

And then there was Hope.

Hope, who had promised Josie always and forever, and then thrown herself to her presumed death at the hands of an evil that would wipe all knowledge of her from, well, everything.

Hope, who had been slowly but surely building Josie’s confidence back up, and convincing her of her own self worth, and teaching her it was okay to love herself.

Only to ultimately abandon her, just as everyone else had. 

Hope, who had vowed never to let harm come to Josie again, who had sworn she would sooner die permanently than hurt the witch herself, who had made an oath in whispered words between kisses and declarations of love to never let her be alone again.

Who was now a liar. Something she had vowed to never be. 

And so she had been incredibly isolated, with no one to turn to and thinking that she was totally alone in the world, not even having the mental defence of loving herself or believing she was deserving of others love. 

But it had known, just as Josie must have known on some deeper level, that the people who did care for her cared for her fiercely, and would never let her be consumed by something so trivial as her own belief that they didn’t love her.

It had known, as Josie had known, that Hope loved her more than life itself, and that she would never give up so long as the siphoner still drew breath, and probably even after she stopped. So it had done everything in its power to keep them apart, to turn Hope away from her and convince her that Josie was lost to her, that Josie had never truly been hers in the first place.

It had fueled her rage and resentment and bitterness and pushed it at her from every angle until it was a wonder the witch could even remember her own name past the absolute anger that she carried around with her.

It had quashed every moment of joy and hope and love and turned them into fear and jealousy and hate, and whispered in her mind the whole time how she wasn't deserving of good things, how she should just give up and give in, how nothing mattered anyway since no one would miss her.

But the Dark hadn’t accounted for the random, emotion fueled actions of a young witch. 

Pedro may have been scared, and lonely, and seeking comfort from the one place he was so used to it always being readily available, but he’d also figured out how they were going to save Josie, and Hope could hit herself for not seeing it sooner.

She turned to him with a grin stretching her face, eyes alight with a fire that had been missing since Josie had been gone, “You’re a genius, Pedro! I owe you a whole batch of peanut butter cookies, okay?”

With that, she hugged him tightly for a moment, planting a kiss to the top of his and ruffling his hair before jumping to her feet and rushing off, again.

* * *

It had taken the Dark hours to find its way back to the school, the part of the forest the Tribrid had dumped them in had been miles away from anything even close to resembling civilization.

She’d travelled nearly two miles in the wrong direction before she’d thought to do a locator spell and realised. Which meant that by the time she actually got back to the school, cold, hungry, tired and more than a little put out, it was quite late.

She stormed through the front doors, scowl firmly affixed to her face and radiating an aura of black magic so thick and harsh it would be more likely to choke someone than let them near her.

The few students still awake this late scattered at the sight of her, no one wanted to be on the receiving end of her anger, especially not after news of her collapsing and being carried out of the school by the Mikaelson Tribrid had spread.

A smirk replaced the scowl quickly, and though it physically pained her to do so, she raised her head imperiously and stalked through the hallways as though she owned them.

Nobody was in the kitchen at this time of night, and she let herself collapse slightly, feeling the ache in her legs and back flare to life now that there was no one around to intimidate. She sighed, rubbing a hand along the back of her neck and lifting herself onto the counter where she sat with her head in her hands for a moment.

That infuriating wolf. How dare she just up and leave her in the middle of nowhere! How could she claim to care for Josie when she was happy to leave her to the mercies of whatever lived in that forest.

Unbeknownst to her, Hope had actually left a cloaking spell on her when she’d still been passed out, and a linking charm on the necklace that the Dark had never bothered to take off had kept Hope informed of how far away she was at all times.

Which is how Hope knew she was now in the school. It led her right to her in fact. She was inches away from the Dark before she realised she was there. 

She jumped in fright when she noticed the Tribrid in front of her, her body protesting the movement, but she refused to appear any weaker and straightened her spine imperiously, glaring down at the shorter girl.

Hope just stared back at her, deep ocean eyes stormy and resolute, the barest ring of yellow around them. It was intimidating, and more than a little aweing, the amount of power she radiated without even trying.

The Darks little stint of pushing out an aura of black magic had drained her of energy she didn’t even have, leaving her ready to fall asleep at a moments notice and in desperate need of food, but here stood Hope, quiet and alert and filling the entire room with her own magic without so much as a thought.

It must be addicting, to have so much power so immediately at your disposal, to be so obviously the strongest person in any room at any time. But Hope had never wavered, never thought herself above anyone else, and it was somewhat of a sobering revelation.

She stood waiting, stiff spined and with bated breath, for the shorter girl to say something, or do something, or anything, in a strange parody of their earlier encounter in the forest.

The minutes ticked over and the clock in the far corner of the room chimed midnight and still neither girl made a move. Hope’s eyes flickered over her, taking in the mud that covered her to her knees, the rip in the hem of her shirt from where she stumbled against a tree, the grazes on her palms.

A desperate part of Josie wondered if Hope felt regret at leaving her to save herself, another felt sick at the blank expression on her face.

Her hand was raised and Josie was reaching for her before either girl had realized what was happening. Hope’s eyes blew wide, and the hand reaching for her stilled in mid air. The gorgeous brown eyes she’d loved for longer than she could recall flickered dangerously, and a strained grimace pulled at Josie’s features.

But Hope blinked and those eyes were once again black, the hand that had been held out toward her was now clenched in a fist and held at her side and an arrogant smirk had replaced the confused frown.

It was like a switch had flipped for the Tirbrid though, and suddenly she was wrapped around the tall frame of the Dark, pressing her into the kitchen counter where it dug uncomfortably into her lower back, one arm thrown over her shoulders, the other wound around her middle.

They were pressed so closely together she could feel the shorter girls heartbeat, their hips and torsos molding in a way that screamed in it’s rightness and perfection.

Hope buried her face against the smooth, tan skin of her neck, muttering three words over and over until her head rang with them and she started to feel dizzy. She pushed the older girl away, eyes widening in shock when Hope touched her face and her hand came back covered in blood, the hot liquid pouring noticeably from her nose.

Josie locked eyes with the Tribrid, fisting her hands into the material of her shirt until it bunch at her waist, the room spun and she fell forward into Hope’s arms, resting her forehead tiredly against a strong shoulder and choked out, “I love you too, Hope.” 

* * *

  
  


She wakes, for the second time in less than a day, in an unfamiliar place. At least this time, she thinks, she is on a comfortable bed, inside, and there is no large white wolf watching her.

But there is Hope, sitting on the desk chair at the side of the bed. A book sits on her lap, but her eyes stare at it unseeingly, fingers tracing something the Dark can’t see from this angle. She closes her eyes again, mentally taking catalogue of herself.

The ache in her legs has dwindled down to a dull twinge, her back feels a million times better and the stinging cuts that had covered her palms had disappeared, likely thanks to a healing spell cast by the girl sitting by her.

She sighs, shattering the illusion that she was still asleep and sit ups, stretching and glancing at the Tribrid from the corner of her eye, but the other girl doesn’t appear to have noticed her wakeful state, expression still lost and fingers still tracing what the dark thinks might be a photo.

Standing from the bed, she circles the shorter girl, coming to a stop at her shoulder where she peers down at the book's contents.

There on the page sits a singular photo, frayed around the edges slightly and water stained in one corner, of a younger Hope, Josie and Lizzie, their mothers stand behind them beaming.

A young Lizzie looks incredibly perturbed at being forced into a photo with Hope, arms crossed and scowling at something out of frame and in the opposite direction of the younger Tribrid. A young, unburdened Josie beams at the camera, one arm thrown over her shoulder to hold her mother’s hand.

It’s Hope who is the most interesting in the photo however, eyes glued to Josie, corners of her lips twitched up into a crooked half grin, one hand holding her own mother’s arm where it wraps across her collar, the other slightly raised as though she’d been reaching toward Josie.

The Dark frowns down at the picture, her hands ache and tremble at her sides and she clenches them into fists and shoves them deep into her pockets.

Hope glances up at her, her mind is still kind of distant but she’s present enough to register the black that conceals chocolate eyes and the near permanent cruel twist of pouty lips. She slams the book closed, hiding the photo from the Dark’s searching eyes and stands.

“You’re up. Good.”

The Dark scowls at her, eyes taking her in slowly and she hums at the shiver Hope doesn’t fully suppress, a smile tugs at her mouth, only to be quickly wiped away as she rapidly shakes her head, going slightly dizzy at the motion but feeling the spark of delight that had shot through her simmer out.

“And why is that good, little wolf? What frightfully dull thing do you have in store for me today?” She closes the distance between them swiftly, stopping centimetres from Hope’s face and pretending the way blue eyes flick to her lips doesn’t thrill her.

“Perhaps you’re going to bore me to death with another speech about the injustice of my possessing this body?” A long, tan finger traces the length of a strong, pale jaw and Hope clenches her eyes shut.

“Maybe you’ll attempt another ritual to purge the dark magic from your Josie?” She passes behind her, molding her front to the Tribrids back and stopping the urge to press closer in its tracks, but she’s powerless to stop her hands from settling on firm abs, fingers pressing lightly into Hope’s stomach through the material of her t-shirt.

“Or, just to change things up,” She leans in, lips brushing the shell of Hope’s ear, and chuckles darkly at the gasp that escapes the shorter girl, “You’re going to pin me down,” another gasp, another dark chuckle, “And work me over,” the fingers at prominent abs dig in a little further, every muscle in her body pulled taught in restraint, “And make me submit?” 

The growl that leaves Hope at her words has her knees shaking slightly and the Dark bites down on her tongue hard enough to taste blood when she finds herself suddenly pinned to the wall, hands held above her head in an iron grip as Hope's other hand splays along the plane of her stomach. 

Centimeters separate them, the air growing hot and heavy in the space between their faces as they pant and Josie trembles at the yellow glow encasing Hope's eyes. 

“Hope…” 

Her jaw works and her tongue pushes uselessly at the back of her teeth as she screams and screams internally, but it’s all for nothing as the momentary control Josie had seized in the wake of Hope’s actions slips away from her.

The tremble in her hands is all but imperceptible as the Dark pushes Hope away from her, smoothing the hair back from her face and tugging at the hem of her shirt to straighten it as she fights to even out her breathing.

Hope watches her curiously, arms half raised awkwardly like she expects the Dark to faint again, and though nausea pushes at her stomach and her vision dances at the edges she stubbornly remains on her feet.

“As it is, little wolf, I don’t feel like entertaining you today.” She stalks toward the door on the other side of the room, Hope’s eyes burning into her the whole way, and ignores the way she aches for the older girl to stop her.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hopes hatches a desperate plan, Penelope gets way in over her head and Lizzie is not having a good time.  
> Josie makes a breakthrough, but is it the beginning on the end?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, some of you may have noticed that the chapter count has gone up to 3. Unsurprisingly, I am incapable of finishing anything quickly, and this fic has just continued to grow. 
> 
> Thank you to everyone who had left kudo's or commented, I'm glad you're all enjoying it and hopefully the second chapter is just as good!

Lizzie had shook her head so much in the last few minutes that Hope was starting to worry she’d get brain damage, and if she didn’t then the Tribrid might be tempted to dish some out herself.

Everything she’d said for the last half hour had received nothing but skepticism and argument, and even flat out refusal or denial. Hope’s eyes were actually starting to strain from being rolled so much and she could still taste blood where she’d bit through her cheek at Lizzie’s last interruption.

It was only the knowledge that Josie would be extremely pissed at her for it that stayed the Tribrids hand in her struggle not to slap the taller witch.

She’d been tentatively hopeful when she’d arrived at the twins room to explain her plan, but in the time since her good mood had vanished, her patience teetering dangerously close to a breaking point as Lizzie, again, refuted all her claims that Josie had actually been present during their last encounter in Hope’s room.

“-absolutely ridiculous, Hope. She literally told you to fuck off and walked away, does that really sound like our Josie to you?”

Scoffing, she dragged a hand through her hair and whirled to face the blonde, “Have you actually listened to a single thing I’ve said? That was the Dark! But before that-”

“Hope,” the shorter girls teeth audibly clicked as she clenched her jaw, just once she wished she could get a whole sentence out in Lizzie’s presence, “I really wish this whole… ‘love her till she brings herself out of it’ plan you’re concocting sounded remotely reasonable, but come on. Don’t you think you’re starting to get just a little bit too desperate?”

“Frankly, Lizzie, I don’t think you’re desperate enough. Or don’t you actually want your sister back to normal?”

The briefest flicker of guilt shot through Hope at the hurt that immediately danced across Lizzie’s face, but she was honestly exhausted and at her wits end. She needed this plan to work, they’d tried literally everything else and at this point maybe all they had left were desperate plays.

Mouth pulled down into a harsh scowl and a hint of tears welling in her eyes, Lizzie opened her mouth to deliver what would have surely been a scathing retort, but something must have shone through her expression as the taller witch frowned and stopped.

Green eyes pierced into her as she took several deep breaths, long fingers methodically smoothing out imaginary creases in her school skirt before her shoulders slumped, “Fine.”

Hope’s jaw dropped slightly and she resisted the urge to ask the other girl to repeat herself, knowing that would only bring frustration and another argument, instead nodding and moving over to Josie's desk to sit down, wrinkling her nose at the layer of dust slowly building on top of it.

“So what exactly are we doing?”

The Tribrid grinned, something light fluttering behind her ribs for the first time in months as she explained her plan and what she needed the siphoner to do, something she hesitated to call hope, but which felt a lot like it.

* * *

Thursday’s were notoriously slow at Salvatore, the week was mostly done with but after four days of school with another yet to come most of the students wanted nothing more than to relax after class and make plans for the long awaited weekend.

Sat in the esoteric magic section of the library, watching students through the gaps in the shelves, the Dark pouted and nursed a bruised ego. After losing control over to Josie twice in less than a day she’d spent most of the morning sulking in the attic and trying in vain to come up with a way to permanently rid herself of the Tribrid.

Short of sealing her behind a boundary spell and hiding her away somewhere no one would find her, there had been very little progress made on her personal vendetta. She’d had the thought several times that she could just leave the school, the state, hell even the country, but more than the knowledge that that would never stop Hope finding her, she didn’t want to.

It had been a long time since the Dark had had a host, and despite herself, in the long months it had taken to seize control of Josie’s mind, she’d adopted a lot of the young siphoners' more ingrained beliefs.

Namely; killing people, any people, was unequivocally wrong unless in self defense when there was literally no other option and she’d exhausted all other avenues. That one had taken a while to come to terms with actually, of the six other hosts’ she’d had in the last millennium Josie was the first who’d had any issues with killing, or the unnecessary pain or suffering of others.

Even the necessary pain and suffering of others was largely a grey area with the witch, though the Dark had noted that she was much more likely to allow herself to suffer than anyone else, for any reason.

Her sister was the single most important person in the world, at least to her, and everything and anything must be done to ensure her happiness and good mental health, even at her own detriment. Interestingly, the Dark had taken to this belief incredibly quickly, never before having had a familial connection of any kind.

Previous hosts had typically been dark witches or creatures, already predisposed to chaos and carnage and general mayhem, without a thought or care for anyone but themselves. This had made them singularly useful and easy to control, but had also made her weak and complacent in the belief that she was individually powerful - something her time with Josie was quickly showing her not to be the case.

Lastly, Salvatore was home. It was somewhat of a novel concept. The Dark had never had a home before, nothing even remotely close to it, in fact, and while the idea had at first been intriguing, it had slowly become a natural truth. Even here, hiding between the dusty stacks in a seldom used corner of the library, she could feel the tendrils of content teasing the edges of her consciousness.

It was intoxicating, the ease she felt while wandering through crowded or empty halls. The power that pulsed, silent and hidden, beneath the oak panels and soft carpets. The consistent but comforting buzz of noise that always permeated the air, no matter where you were, something that could only be found when sharing a space with hundreds of other teenagers, supernatural or not.

And now there was Hope. And though the Dark fought and raged and cursed, the release of black magic that had brought back Josie’s memories of the Tribrid had brought back something else. Another ingrained belief.

Hope would always save the day. 

The more time she spent in the shorter girls company, the longer she agonised over her, the more ways she plotted her defeat - only to argue away her own plans, the more she started to accept this as another of those things that Josie had taught her that was ultimately true.

It was infuriating, as it was terrifying. In previous lives the only thing that had freed her from her hosts was their death, yet Hope Mikaelson had inspired a deeply buried fear that she may yet be the one to die in this separation. 

Mortality was something the Dark had never thought of before, naively thinking it was something that only affected, well, mortals. Her hands shook as she raised them to her face, pressing the tips of her fingers harshly against her temples in an effort to hold off the migraine building behind her eyes.

She sighed, steeling her spine and lifting her chin before strolling out into the library proper, smirking at the students there as they flinched back and watched her with wide eyes and baited breath.

The smell of ozone hung thick in the air as she gathered an aura of black magic around herself so thick it could almost be seen, suffocating in its sheer magnitude. Some of the wolves in the corner started to whine softly, eyes flickering rapidly from burning yellow and back to their normal colouring as they struggled visibly to stay on their feet.

She watched out of the corner of her eye as several witches hurried out of the room, smirk stretching into something devilish at the taste of their fear in the air. Hope Mikaelson might eventually save the day, but for now, it was all hers to enjoy.

* * *

Penelope had no idea what had possessed her to walk toward the library despite the visibly fleeing group of witches. Maybe it was her masochistic streak, maybe it was her curiosity, or her inability to allow something to happen without knowing what, maybe it was a little of all three.

Either way, five minutes after leaving her Chemistry of Magic lecture she found herself frozen in the entrance to the library, eyes wide and, for the first time in her life, no idea what to say. 

She watched in fascinated horror as not ten feet away the Dark twisted Josie’s delicate, gorgeous features, into a hate filled sneer. Black magic cracked at her fingers as her attention was suddenly drawn to the ravenette witch.

Her breath hitched as dark eyes locked onto hers and she fought to contain the shiver ripping up her spine. Since returning from Belgium Penelope’s interactions with Josie, and later the Dark, had been incredibly limited.

In fact, other than once or twice in that first week, Penelope couldn’t recall them having even been in the same room for more than a few moments. 

“Well, well. To what do I owe pleasure, Penelope? Here for the show?” the words dripped from plump lips like venomous honey and the ravenette gaped for several seconds as she tried to form a response.

Darting her eyes around the room, she finally noticed the group of wolves cowering in the corner, their forms hunched and panting for breath as their eyes glowed yellow. Though she was on the opposite side of the large library to them she could hear their pained grunts and the faint growls they fought to contain.

Like a thousand bricks the realisation hit her, the Dark was attempting to force the change. Well, it was probably safe to assume she was succeeding actually, given the state the five teens were in.

Penelope’s stomach churned uncomfortably as her fingers tapped a restless tune against her thigh, thoughts racing. She had maybe minutes to come up with a way to stop this foolish and potentially lethal plan, and if she failed there would be five transformed werewolves roaming the school, something she decidedly did not want to deal with.

The Dark rolled her eyes, apparently having grown bored of waiting for a response, and turned back to the wolves. From here Penelope could see that their claws and fangs had already started to push through and she revised her previous estimation of minutes to moments.

Unbidden, a conversation she’d had with MG a few days ago flitted to the surface of her thoughts and she sighed, sending a silent prayer up that this plan worked - or at least didn’t get her killed, or torn apart by werewolves.

“So, I hear you’ve been fainting all over the school? The big bad Dark, undone by an eight year old and the very Tribrid you claim to hate.”

Long, brunette curls whipped through the air as the Dark spun to face her, something feral glinting in her piercing eyes, “Don’t speak of what you don’t know, Park. I am far from undone, you and everyone else would be wise to accept that.”

Penelope had to restrain the urge to snort in amusement, surely even the Dark could see how her aggressive defence had conveyed the exact opposite of confidence, “Sure, whatever. Guess that’s why you’ve been hiding all day, ‘cause you’re so strong and scary.”

Magic cracked in the air between them, hot and cruel, making Penelope’s skin itch and fingers shake even as she smirked at the fuming visage of the Dark. Out of the corner of her eye she watched as the wolves, who had been panting harshly and seconds from exploding out of their own skins, began to straighten up, their breathing coming easier and their eyes holding their natural colours for longer and longer.

She took a few steps toward the seething witch, sheer stubborn will the only thing keeping her knees locked as the force of the black magic surrounding them became oppressive and suffocating, “It’s a bit embarrassing really. You’re supposed some great, all powerful being - yet you’re brought down by a hug! Honestly, it’s the most precious thing I’ve ever heard.”

An ugly snarl tugged at the corners of the Dark’s mouth, eyes ablaze and hands fisted but Penelope clenched her jaw and inched closer, the blood rushing her past her ears deafening in the choked silence of the library.

Black spots danced through her vision, and Penelope briefly considered that antagonising the Dark in this way might not have been in her best interest, but she pushed the thought aside as she came to a stop inches from the taller girl, chest heaving as she struggled to breath.

This close to her, Penelope could see the streaks of hazel bleeding into her black gaze, the bruising along her bottom lip where she’d been chewing it just barely hidden by dark lipstick. There were cracks in her mask, small as they were, and Penelope marveled at the way Josie was starting to force her way back through.

Hope’s words had done little more than piss her off for the past weeks. Constantly muttering about finding a way to bring Josie back or beat the Dark, but in this moment Penelope felt inexplicably guilty; for not offering to help the Tribrid, for ignoring her plans and theories, and most importantly, for ignoring the Dark, and by extension Josie, almost entirely since returning from Europe.

She watched out of the corner of her eye as the wolves took several shaky steps towards them, shaking her head as she subtly traced an ‘H’ in the air, floundering for something else to say to the Dark.

She didn’t have to wait long though as the Dark quirked an eyebrow, attention entirely captured by the shorter witch before her and completely oblivious to the fast escaping group of wolves, “You know, it’s incredibly brave of you to approach me. Brave, or stupid, I suppose. But I can see you’ve got a lot of fire in you, Penelope Park.”

The Dark closed the remaining distance between them, pausing with less than inches separating them, and grinned devilishly, “I can see how you tremble in the presence of so much dark magic, but it doesn’t have to be that way.”

Time seemed to stop as the taller witch leaned in, whispering against her ear, “You could learn, just like Josie did, and those sharp edges you fight so hard to hide could be honed, freed - to unleash upon those beneath us.”

Penelope gasped lightly, her head spinning. Suddenly the decision to enter the library seemed like the worst she’d ever made and the last thing she saw before darkness consumed her was the flash of concerned hazel eyes as two panicked voices called her name.

  
  


* * *

It had been hard to predict what she’d walk into when Hope had set off toward the library. 

Brandon’s rushed words as several other wolves nodded dumbly behind him had barely made sense to her, but she’d caught ‘Penelope’ ‘library’ and ‘Dark’ and set off like a bullet through a barrel, barely remembering to shout a hurried “Get Dr Saltzman!” over her shoulder as she’d moved.

She’d expected blood soaked books, spell damaged walls, raging fires. She’d expected a furious Penelope and an amused, bored, or even hostile Dark.

What she found was the Dark leaning back from whispering something into Penelope’s ear, the shorter witch trembling harshly at what had to be the epicentre for the biggest swarm of black magic Hope had ever encountered.

She watched in mounting horror as the smirk on the Dark’s face slowly gave way to worry, and then panic, as Penelope finally lost the battles of wills and collapsed under the strain of the black magic surrounding her. 

It occurred to her as she sped toward the fallen witch that it hadn’t just been her voice calling out the other girls name, but she pushed the thought aside, falling to her knees next to her prone form and gently rolling her onto her back.

“Come on, Pen, take a breath.” Hope placed one hand to the girl's forehead, the other weaving intricately above her as she muttered under her breath, forcing light magic into the space around them and waiting anxiously for any sign that Penelope was breathing.

The touch of cool fingers against hers was so unexpected that Hope actually yelped and jolted a little, bringing wide blue eyes up quickly to lock onto hard hazel. The red glow of magic transference lit up the corner of her eye, but she kept her gaze locked firmly on Josie even as she continued to mutter the spell beneath her breath.

Sweat beaded along the taller witches hairline as Josie’s soft chanting joined Hope’s, the air between them practically glowing with soft, light magic. Josie’s hand traced the same pattern as Hope’s, flowing backwards and forwards above Penelope’s body in a mirror image, a slight tremble causing her fingers to stutter occasionally.

A gasping cough from Penelope made Hope twitch again, and the sound of footsteps thundering toward them pierced the sudden silence, but she ignored it all as she leaned forward to crush Josie into a hug.

Tears burned the back of her eyes as she felt slender arms wrap around her waist, and a cold nose press into the juncture of her neck. Hope cupped the back of Josie's head, turning her face to bury it in wild brunette curls.

“Hope-”

“Shhh…”

The Tribrid rocked where she knelt, selfishly wishing she could have all of Josie pressed to her right now, but painfully aware of the still unconscious Penelope who lay between them, like a macabre metaphor.

Leaning back to peer into the taller witches eyes, she felt a tear fall down her face at the smooth hazel still held there. Cupping her jaw, Hope leaned their foreheads together and ignored the way each laboured breath from Josie’s lips got harsher, and brought with it sharp pains in her chest.

Josie bit her lip, eyes flicking rapidly over Hope’s face like she might never see her again. She brought a trembling hand up from the Tribrid’s waist, pushing a stray auburn curl out of her face and behind her ear. 

Palm settling on the shorter witches collarbone as her fingers wrapped over a broad shoulder. Hope watched transfixed as a faint smile tugged at the corners of plump lips when Josie’s thumb found her pulse, tracing lightly over the sensitive spot.

Throwing caution to the wind, the shorter girl surged forward and connected their lips, something breaking apart inside of her when Josie hurried to respond. She kept it chaste, the exhaustion emanating from the taller girl obvious, just the press of lips, a sharp intake of breath and regret raging like a forest fire as she broke away.

This time when she looked into Josie’s eyes, she could see the pain held in them. Her stunt of light magic had drained her so much that fighting the Dark was secondary in this moment to staying conscious, and Hope could see how she was quickly losing that battle.

Cradling her face, she gazed in awe at the siphoner. Never before had she been as amazed and humbled by someone, as in this moment. She watched Josie flick her eyes over Penelope, and toward the group of staff and students approaching the door. 

The force of Josie’s piercing stare as she found Hope’s eyes again was flattening. A black circle was already starting to bleed into the hazel, but she ignored this, scrunching up her forehead in concentration as she licked her lips.

“I love you, Hope. Don’t stop fighting, okay?” The words came rushed and whispered, and Hope’s heart broke and repaired itself a million times in the space of a breath. 

Josie’s eyelids fluttered and she swayed, panting now as she struggled to stay awake just a little longer, so Hope made the split second decision to gather her into her arms, falling back as she lifted the taller witch and cradling her like a small child in her lap.

She pressed her face to the top of Josie’s head, inhaling the scent of her almond and coconut shampoo and smiling sadly at it’s familiar comfort as the Siphoners hands twisted into the material of her sweater.

“I love you too, Josie,” the Tribrid smirked slightly at the drowsy, yet satisfied hum she received, tightening her arms around the taller witch and trying to memorize the feeling of her in her arms. 

She choked back a sob as she felt the stuttering breaths of the other girl even out against the hollow of her throat, pressing a kiss to the top of her head, she whispered to her softly before gathering both her and Penelope up in a levitation spell and marching past a bemused Alaric Saltzman and straight to the infirmary.

Hope’s whispered words bounced around inside Josie’s shared mind. Even as she slept, even as the Dark took control once more over her body, Hope’s words kept her company, “I’ll never stop fighting, Jo. I’ll fix this, I promise, just come back to me baby, please.”

* * *

It was honestly both terrifying and exhilarating for Hope, to realise that her plan may actually have some merit. To have been told by Josie that she was loved, and be able to tell her in return. To hold her and know that it was entirely the girl she fell in love with in her arms.

Frankly she didn’t think her heart had beat as fast since the day she asked the siphoner if she’d go on a date with her.

On the flip side, it had clearly been both exhausting and painful for the other girl to hold control of her own body that amount of time. And wasn’t that just singularly depressing to think of. It had physically hurt Josie, her sweet, lovely, compassionate Josie - just to look through her own eyes and control her own actions.

When she’d entered the library she definitely hadn’t expected to have to save Penelope’s life, and certainly not in the incredibly dramatic fashion it had happened in. Yet when Josie had joined their hands and magic, and echoed her in her chant, Hope had felt capable of anything.

Now, sat beside the unconscious form of the girl she loved desperately, trying not to grimace at the burn of bleach and antiseptic in her nose, she wondered whether she would get another chance like that.

She’d promised Josie that she’d fix this, that she’d save her and get her back to herself. But was it actually possible? Would it actually work? Or would Hope end up with a love who was only herself sometimes? Who had to share her body with the vilest of magic, a being who stood for everything she herself was against?

In truth nothing frightened the Tribrid more than the macabre thoughts she dwelled in during those long hours sat in the infirmary, one hand gripping the blanket that rested across Penelope, while the other lay entangled with Josie’s.

Her skin still hadn’t regained all of it’s typically tan colour, and her eyes shifted restlessly in her sleep, making Hope nervous and twitchy.

A hand landing heavily on her shoulder almost drew a yelp from her, but she managed to suppress it at the last moment. Alaric hovered over her shoulder when she twisted her head, and she instantly felt guilt well up in her stomach at the sight of him.

He shot her a small smile, offering a protein bar and a bottle of water with a soft, "Hi, Hope", she smiled back, taking them gratefully. 

To say her relationship with the headmaster had suffered under the stress of everything happening with Josie would have been laughable at best. Their relationship had all but imploded, and long gone were their early morning sparring sessions and impromptu lunches. 

Hope had snapped and shouted and raged at the man several times since everyone had regained their memories thanks to the Dark. It hadn’t made her feel better in the least, but she consoled herself in the knowledge that with each verbal battering, Josie's father had actually tried a little harder to come up with a viable solution to any of the million problems that kept springing up, and had previously been being left entirely to Hope to deal with.

He sighed, long and pained, eyes flitting to Josie face quickly and darkening at the obvious signs of distress he found there, “Lizzie said you’ve got some sort of plan? To save Josie. I was wondering if there’s any way I could help?”

And just like that, every wall around her heart crumpled and she let a few silent tears slip down her cheeks, leaning backwards in her chair to press the top of her head against his stomach, like she used to when she was small.

“Yeah. Yeah, of course. Sit down, I’ll fill you in.”

* * *

It was dark when she woke up, but the chemical smell that couldn’t be hidden beneath any amount of magic immediately alerted her to her whereabouts. She found herself immensely relieved that though she had woken for the third time under unexpected circumstances, she was actually somewhere familiar this time.

Slowly, so as not to alert anyone watching her, she cracked her eyes open, surveying the room around her.

In a bed to her left was Penelope Park, peaceful in slumber, though she appeared strangely small curled up in the giant infirmary bed. And between their beds, slumped awkwardly in a chair not designed to be slept in, was Hope.

The Dark scoffed internally, of course Hope would be by her- by Josie’s bedside, she loved the girl, and regardless she likely wanted to ensure that she got up to nothing funny whilst the school was asleep.

It was incredibly irksome to the Dark that she had once again lost control of Josie’s body, more so that it had been for so long and the siphoner had managed to perform magic whilst in control.

It amused her slightly that it had been the imminent threat to a girl she had at one point professed to hate more than any other, and set on fire at the beginning of the prior year!

But honestly it was more worrying than anything else. There was an ache in her muscles from the physical fight that had ensued in the effort between both her and siphoner to control every movement, the flow of magic that had left her, the way she'd curled into the Tribrid in her attempt to offer comfort.

The Dark had fought it all, and had come out on the losing side, especially when she considered that she would now have to deal with all of the fallout and repercussions of it having happened at all.

Truth be told she was relieved that nothing terrible had befallen the witch lay in the bed beside hers, it would have been unequivocally dreadful to have killed the other girl, and she shuddered to think what Hope’s reaction to such an action might have been. 

But still, it grated that that had been the first time Josie had managed to physically and purposefully take control from her.

She needed to find a way to get away from this school, and though the thought broke her heart, she knew it was the only way to save her life, and frankly her priorities were well in order in her own esteemed opinion.

Trying to sit up proved to be a step above her capabilities at the moment however and she collapsed from the half suspended position she’d managed to force herself into in a huff and with a wince of pain as the muscles in her back spasmed uncomfortably.

Unfortunately, the noise had woken Hope and the Dark bit back a sigh of frustration as eyes blue as any ocean snapped open and locked onto her like that was their only purpose.

It appeared she’d been quite deeply asleep however, as the first word out of her mouth was a very groggy “Jo…?”

The scowl that immediately stretched over her face was clearly answer enough and the Tribrid was instantly more alert, sitting up with a cacophony of popping and cracking joints and shaking her whole body in a way reminiscent of a wolf in a clear attempt to kickstart the healing of her obviously sore and strained muscles.

Not for the first time the Dark begrudged the fact that the witch she currently possessed did not have the advanced healing capabilities of some of the other supernatural species.

She had briefly entertained the thought, just after fully gaining control of Josie, of leaving the Siphoner and attempting to control Hope instead.

The power the Tribrid held was seductive enough, coupled with the perfect immortality that so few species truly possessed and the ability to become entirely anonymous if she were willing to throw herself into Malivore and then escape again.

It had consumed for weeks, the very possibility, but ultimately she’d had to put it down to something that absolutely and under no circumstances should be attempted. 

Unlike Josie, Hope was not pliant, or easily molded. She had very few qualities that could be easily manipulated and her moral code alone would prove impossible to overcome. That was before her strength, physical, magical, mental or otherwise, was even actually considered.

No, that plan had been doomed before it even started to form in her mind and she’d been relieved when she’d realised this without actually having had the gall to attempt it.

Her assured destruction was enough of a daunting prospect as it was, she shuddered to think how quickly it would become a reality if she’d attempted to possess the Mikaelson heir.

There had been a time, several centuries ago, when she contemplated the girl's father, for many of the same reasons the girl herself was such an attractive prospect - but with the additional factors to consider and sweeten the deal.

Unlike Hope, Niklaus had spent much of his immortal life in a depression that had manifested itself in rage, violence, bloodshed and general chaos. In other words, the type of environment she thrived in.

But ultimately she'd given up on him too. His family had been too old, too powerful, too knowledgeable, even if the power had been tantalizing and seductive.

And now, his daughter presented more problems than he himself had, and she wasn’t even using a Mikaelson! Just an, at the time, seemingly random witch, though Josie was certainly much more than that in the grand scheme of things.

And therein lay the problem, because whilst the Dark had previously escaped all knowledge of the Mikaelsons, and worked specifically to never anger them enough to discover her, one of them now knew.

Worse, since she currently knew of no way to separate from the young siphoner other than killing her, it was highly unlikely that she would escape this experience with her own life, let alone the ability or opportunity to take control of any one else.

Truthfully, she was glad that they hadn’t considered throwing her into Malivore yet, she had no desire to go back there and she was sure that if it hadn’t been for the girl whose face she wore it would have been a foregone conclusion to this particular misadventure already.

In short, she needed a way to escape. Whether that was her unwilling host, the school, the planet or otherwise, was inconsequential, but as Hope’s blue eyes bore into her, she decided it needed to be soon.

* * *

Sunday mornings were typically quiet at Salvatore. Most of the school slept in, if they’d gone to sleep at all, and those who didn’t use the last day of the weekend to catch up on their sleep were usually either buried beneath a mountain of homework, being productive, or a wolf.

Which was exactly why it was the opposite of surprising to find Hope jogging around the school grounds every Sunday morning at seven o'clock. 

What was more than slightly shocking however, were the sights of Penelope Park - a witch who had always been entirely and vocally against physical exercise in any and every form - and Lizzie Saltzman - who would herself admit eagerly that neither of the girls currently jogging by her side were two that she would ever be typically caught dead near.

In a completely unsurprising turn of events however, they were together to discuss their common and vested interest, namely one Josette Olivia Saltzman.

Hope wasn’t entirely pleased to have the witches along with her on her morning run, not least of all because it had meant she'd had to slow her pace considerably - and the option of turning into a wolf to spend some time roaming the surrounding forest was clearly off the table.

However, the opportunity to bring more people in on her plan to save Josie from the Dark was not one to be squandered and so she had begrudgingly woken up both witches (multiple times) that morning and waited through a litany of curses and complaints as they’d both gotten ready and then eventually made their way with her out onto the grounds.

They’d had to stop twice already. Once because Penelope had gotten a stitch in her side that had left her gasping and curled up on the ground for several minutes, forcing Hope to endure those minutes with Lizzie bitching about everything; from the early hour, to the mud on her previously pristine sneakers, to the fact that they’d had to stop for the shorter witch.

When Penelope had finally gotten back to her feet they’d managed to run consistently for another three minutes, before Lizzie had stumbled and promptly spent twelve minutes raging about the absolutely tiny hole in her jogging bottoms - despite the fact that Hope had fixed it almost immediately.

So now, as the Tribrid tried to settle back into her rhythm and find something to enjoy about this ruined morning jog, she hurried to explain to Penelope what exactly the plan that she and Lizzie had concocted consisted of.

To say the other witch was skeptical would have been the height of an understatement. She was furious, actually, that such a seemingly obvious plan had taken so many months to form, and that it had been discovered not even by one of the witches present, but by an eight year old.

Unfortunately, there was absolutely nothing that could be done to change either of those facts, but everything to be done to solve the issue that was at the crux of their morning meeting. 

It took two more laps of the grounds, a fake twisted ankle from Lizzie and three more five minute breaks for the witches to get their breaths back, but eventually they had a much more fleshed out plan than they had had previously. 

Hpe grinned, wiping the small amount of sweat from her brow and taking a deep drink from her water bottle - less out of need, and more from a desire not to have to talk to the other two for a few moments.

She watched out of the corner of her eye as Penelope sat down next to Lizzie, both of them working through the simple cool down exercises she’d shown them. Tension cracked between them for a moment, and Hope worried that she’d have to sit between them to prevent the oncoming storm.

Then, the most unexpected thing that had happened all year occurred. Lizzie burst into tears, throwing her arms wildly around Penelope and sobbing into her shoulder pitifully.

The ravenette flailed, looking toward Hope imploringly and in a manner that just screamed ‘Help!’ but the Tribrid shrugged, gesturing vaguely and pretending to be busy with something on her phone.

She watched in amazement as Penelope scowled, flipped her off, and then incredibly uncomfortably started trying to comfort the distraught Lizzie, patting her back, shoulders, head - really any part of her she could easily reach in the weakest attempt to comfort someone Hope had ever seen - and she’d seen her Father try to comfort someone before so the bar was generally pretty unreachable.

Taking pity on the other girl she sighed deeply, slumping over to sit by them and trying not flinch when Lizzie rather violently flung herself from Penelope’s shoulder to her own, tears wetting the fabric of her shirt enough that it quickly started to stick uncomfortably to her skin.

“What if this doesn’t work, H-Hope? What… what if-” A hiccup cut her off, prompting the blonde to begin to cry even harder.

Frankly, Hope was even more hopeless when it came to comforting someone than either Penelope or her father had been, but this was Josie’s sister and she’d be damned if she didn’t at least try to do something. Also, it was starting to get annoying.

Putting one arm loosely around the taller witches waist and using the other to run small circles into her shoulders she made soft cooing and hushing noises that she’d seen people use on babies.

Miraculously, it actually seemed to work and the blonde soon started to calm down, sobs turning to stifled hiccups as she recoiled from Hope’s embrace, looking incredibly embarrassed but also grateful.

Hope conjured a handkerchief for the girl, looking away and over the sprawling lawns of the school as she cleaned herself up.

Her mind couldn’t help but to wander again over the plan they’d concocted, and though past experience had taught her it could be more dangerous to hope than anything else, she found herself filled with nothing but.

That night in the library had simultaneously been moments and centuries ago and she longed for nothing more than to have Josie back in her arms, smiling up at her and dotting kisses across the freckles on her cheeks as Hope let her flick through another sketch book she had filled with portraits of her. Her muse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There you have it. This chapter was very light on dialogue, and honestly dialogue is something I struggle with, though I have been going through it and trying to add little bits where I can, let me know if you think there should be more?
> 
> I've started the next chapter, but Architects is at the top of my priority list for right now, and I've got a couple other things in the works, so it might be a while before the last chapter is up.
> 
> Please, let me know what you think, all criticism is welcome, and thank you for reading!
> 
> Also, I've got my own discord! For all things Legacies, and to shout at me to write, get sneak peaks or be asked your opinion on chapters/scenes, and also meet other fans of Hope, Josie, Penelope, Lizzie and all ships thereof! 
> 
> Link is https://discord.gg/wkqtwrY
> 
> Thanks, WK7


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Dark searches for answers, Pedro takes matters into his own hands and Hope's heart really can't take much more of this. It all comes to a head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! It's been a little while... I haven't dropped of the face of the earth, I am just, as you all know, terrible at writing. So I'm gonna be honest, this chapter really got away from me. I haven't actually read the whole thing through, so if anyone notices any glaring inconsistencies or errors please feel free to let me know in the comments.
> 
> This chapter is a tiny bit over 8k, so I hope that makes up for the wait a little bit, and it actually is the last chapter! I do have a few ideas though, so there may be one-shots in the future that I'll add to a collection. 
> 
> Thank you to everyone who left kudo's/comments, I hope you enjoy this last chapter!

The morning had progressed dreadfully slowly for the Dark. It seemed that every morning it was harder and harder to drag herself from her bed, yet every night it was harder to go to sleep. The bonds she’d put around Josie had slowly started to crumble away to nothing, and though she tried desperately to reinforce them each day the new ones seemed to falter even quicker. 

Hope had grown relentless in her continued presence in her life. A part of herself she tried to keep dormant, the Josie part she suspected, revelled in the attention, craved it even; the rest of her wanted nothing to do with it.

Her plans of escape had so far amounted to nothing, every time she sat down to think about it, there had been Hope, with her insanely blue eyes and adorable dimples and endless supply of love and affection and- Urgh!

It was becoming untenable. The Tribrids' ability to appear in her thoughts, consume her actions.

The Dark was sure she was incapable of love. Honestly, she kind of thought she might be allergic to it, since every interaction with the Tribrid had so far left her irritable and achey in ways she couldn’t explain, even to herself.

Which was why it was even more frustrating that, regardless of the part of her that craved it, she now needed to know where the shorter girl was at all times, if only to ensure that she wasn’t coming up with some way to unbind her and Josie, or worse - kill her!

The constant paranoia was likely why she was struggling to sleep, and the lack of sleep was obviously to blame for her inability to rouse herself for the rest of the day, but she couldn’t find it in herself to devote any more care or attention to either of these problems than was absolutely necessary.

Namely; approximately none of it.

Tuesday morning she found herself wandering through the lower school, glad for the quiet as the young witches, who were the only residents at Salvatore under the age of 12, were all in class at the time.

She thought it might have been nice, to have been raised in an environment like Salvatore. Where you were loved and cherished and taught, as opposed to her own ‘childhood’.

Not to get into painful memories though, that wasn’t the point of this little excursion. No, she was in fact looking for something, or more specifically someone.

Pedro had been conspicuous in his absence from the halls of the main school since he had hugged her and brought Josie to the surface, and it was really starting to grate on her that an eight year old had been the mastermind behind her undoing, however accidental it might have been.

She wasn’t sure exactly what her plan was when she did, hopefully, find him - she hadn’t really thought that far ahead, rather noticed the time some ten minutes ago and set off almost unconsciously to what she could see now was the junior schools library.

Unbidden, a foggy memory rose to the surface of her mind, of Josie sat in a large plush chair, a plate of cookies on the table in front of her and a book suspended in the air near her face, the small form of Pedro barely visible as he snuggled into her side - only his caramel curls distinguishing him.

Her stomach churned and a snarl tugged at the corners of her lips, but the singular tear that slipped down her cheek was harder to ignore than the whispers of Josie that were gradually getting louder in the back of her mind.

Stepping into the vast room the Dark didn’t have to look far to find Pedro, nestled into the same chair from her memory with a book that was nearly bigger than him blocking most of the room from his line of sight.

In five steps she’d crossed over half the distance separating them, but paused, every instinct she’d built over the centuries telling her that getting any closer to the tiny witch might yet prove fatal.

Her breath hitched in her throat as Hope’s magic began to fill the room, oppressive in it’s sheer magnitude though it was largely neutral. The Dark kept her back straight and chin held high, watching out of the corner of her eye as the Tribrid appeared from behind one of the shelves, books balanced on one arm as she traced increasingly fast and complicated patterns in the air by her hip.

She was no fool, the Dark could feel the protective charms and magic suppressing curses coating the room like a damp blanket. Any other time she may have been tempted to make a disparaging comment - try and draw the Tribrid into an argument before dramatically leaving, but something was keeping her rooted to the spot and it wasn’t a spell.

Fists shaking at her sides, she took half a step away from the furious girl, suddenly very unsure of herself in the face of the pure rage Hope was displaying. Never before had any negative emotion been directed at ‘Josie’, even when the Dark had been very obviously in control - and the lack of warmth and love in the shorter girl's eyes was hurting a lot more than she felt it had any right to.

The Dark gulped, tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth as she grappled with the English Language in an effort to string together a coherent sentence.

Fortunately, or perhaps the exact opposite, Hope didn’t leave her in silence for long. A cold fire burned in her blue eyes as she advanced toward the Dark, steps sure and heavy in the silent room as her magic built and built until she was sure something was going to spontaneously combust or set on fire.

“How dare you!” the Dark cringed away from the outraged wolf, heart thundering in her chest as she struggled to connect the dots between what she’d done and whatever Hope was mad at her for. Unfortunately she was drawing a blank on all fronts and stood shaking in front of the shorter girl, completely unable to form a word.

Apparently Hope had taken her silence as some kind of admission of guilt, a yellow circle encasing her eyes as she moved even closer, so close in fact that Josie could smell the spearmint on her breath.

She shook her head, hands coming up to press against her temples as a piercing scream rang through their shared mind, though which of them was screaming was entirely unclear. Surprisingly, Hope took no notice of the agony the Dark and Josie were both suddenly in, lost as she was in her fury.

“You parade around the school, our home, as if you own it; not a care for anyone but yourself. And that’s fine, I’ve let you - probably out of some misguided belief that you won’t seriously hurt anyone or cause any damage I can’t fix,” the Dark bit down harshly on her lip, legs trembling and tears gathering in the corners of her eyes.

Hope huffed, mindlessly floating the books to a nearby table as she ran a hand through her hair, “But you’re not Josie, and I have to stop treating you that way. You don’t just get to walk into the junior school, and you don’t get to talk to anyone here - least of all Pedro.”

Hope stood in silence for a long moment, fists clenching at her sides as she breathed deeply until the yellow was completely gone from her eyes. The clear blue of her gaze stayed locked on a point over her shoulder and the Dark choked down a sob as Josie pleaded with every Deity she could name that Hope would just look at her.

The anger had mostly ebbed out of the Tribrids expression when she next met dark eyes, exhaustion taking its place and defeat weighing heavily on her shoulders, “Whatever you thought you were doing here, don’t. Leave the Witchlings alone, this isn’t their fight.”

Trying to nod took more energy than either the Dark or Josie could muster as wave after wave of intense pain flowed through her, and before she realised it she’d all but collapsed into the Tribrids arms, blood coating her tongue from her chewed lip.

Panicking, Hope pulled her closer to support her more, all traces of the intense rage she’d possessed minutes before, and the exhaustion from mere moments past vanished, “Josie!”

The throbbing in her head had surpassed any mortal pain, and Hope was clearly doing nothing regardless of her previous mood, but the only other person the Dark had seen after entering the room had been Pedro and despite everything that had happened in the last few days, she couldn’t bring herself to believe that the eight year old had somehow done this to her.

As the edges of her vision started to turn black she ripped herself from the embrace of strong arms, stumbling away several feet until she felt the slimy coating of the suppressive magic leave her, spinning on the spot and disappearing in a plume of purple smoke to collapse onto Josie’s bed.

She barely had time to lean over the edge of bed before a thick, black sludge was pouring from her nose and throat and coating the floor before her. Siphoning hurt enough that she daren't try it again anytime soon, so rolling onto her back she breathed deeply for a few moments, trying in vain to concentrate past the pain and figure out what in the hell had just happened.

She was claimed by unconsciousness long before she remembered Hope layering protection spells over the room that were specifically aimed at ensuring the longevity and good health of those she loved most - or the eerie glow that Pedro’s chocolate eyes had taken on as he’d watched them silently over the top of his book.

* * *

Hope stormed through the door, magic crackling angrily along her knuckles despite the heavily conflicted expression she wore. Pedro trailed after her silently, a book gripped to his chest as he took in the people gathered with wide eyed wonder.

On the far side of the room Lizzie poked MG in an effort to regain his stolen attention, waving several sheets of paper at him as she muttered furiously. On Hope’s bed, Penelope wrote slowly in a black journal, as serene as she’d be if she was alone - completely undisturbed by Hope’s dramatic entrance.

Kaleb, Jed and Rafael followed her warily with their eyes from the corner of the room, whatever they’d been talking about forgotten in the wake of Hope’s presence.

Throwing herself down onto her bed, the Tribrid pointedly ignored the scathing look Penelope shot at her, clearing her throat and gesturing impatiently for everyone to gather around as Pedro made himself comfortable next to her.

“From now on, he goes nowhere alone. I don’t know what the Dark was planning when she showed up in the junior library but it probably wasn’t anything pleasant.” Six shocked faces turned briefly toward the young witch sat with them, nobody wanting to believe that anyone would wish Pedro harm.

Lizzie frowned, shifting in her seat to cross her legs as she stared accusingly at Hope, “What do you mean she showed up in the junior library? Why would she do that?”

“Obviously I don’t know Lizzie, I’ve just said that, but she was looking for Pedro,” The Tribrid ran a hand through her hair, consciously taking deeper breaths in an effort to calm herself. Magic was still filling the space around her in restless waves, and it was easy to see that it was starting to make some of them fidgety.

“I want at least one of us with him at all times until we find a way to get Josie back, clear?” Heads nodded quickly as the wolf looked around the room, everyone eager to agree and move away from the clearly sensitive topic. “Good, next point then, I don’t actually know where she is at the minute. Anyone seen her recently?”

Lizzie and MG shared an uncomfortable look, the vampire shifting nervously in his seat as blue eyes locked onto him. One auburn eyebrow raised slowly as the silence stretched until eventually even Penelope started to look awkwardly toward the pair, the tension starting to feel more suffocating than Hope’s magic had.

MG coughed weakly, scratching the back of his head and sighing “Well, she’s in her room - Lizzie and Josie’s room I mean. She was passed out in her… in Josie’s bed.”

Hope sat back a little in shock, clearly not having expected that to be where the Dark had escaped to after their short and confusing interaction. Nobody else looked overly surprised, clearly Lizzie and MG had already told everyone else, and Hope frowned briefly, annoyed at being left out of the loop.

Shrugging it off, she turned the conversation back to her plan, giving everyone instructions and tasks for the next few days in the hope that by the end of the week they’d have Josie back.

Completely out of the notice of the ‘adults’ in the room, Pedro had perked up at the mention of Josie, small fingers weaving intricate patterns as they start to discuss Hope’s plan to separate the Dark from Josie, jumping up from the bed and making his way silently and invisibly toward the ajar door and down the hall.

Lizzie and Josie’s room was familiar to him, the path from Hope’s room one he had walked many times before and he was outside the dark oak door in moments, suddenly unsure of how to proceed.

Hope had just given him a lecture about the importance of always having someone, preferably her, be with him - or at least aware of his whereabouts, and not half an hour later he’d snuck away to find the one person everyone was so anxious to keep him away from.

Truthfully, Pedro didn’t really understand why everyone was so concerned with keeping him away from Josie. He knew she was sick at the minute, even though she didn’t seem very sick to him at all, but whenever he was sick all he wanted was someone to rub his back and read to him, so surely his presence wouldn’t upset her overly so?

After he’d hugged her a couple weeks ago, he’d thought he might finally get his Josie back - that she’d bee back to normal, but she’d collapsed and been taken out of the school by Hope and he hadn’t seen her since - everyone seemingly doing their best to keep them away from one another.

Taking a deep breath and squaring his shoulders like he’d seen Hope do before, he pushed the door open gently and slipped into the dark room, whispering a spell as quietly as he could to bring some dim light into the room.

He spotted her pretty quickly, sprawled over the bed as she was, still in the long black coat she’d been wearing in the library earlier - she even still had her tall boots on! Shuffling closer, the young witch noticed how pale his friend looked, her usually tan complexion replaced with sickly white and deep purple bruises under her eyes making her appear even paler.

Reaching forward, he gently pushed a few loose tendrils of long brown hair out of her face, flashing what he hoped was a friendly smile when her eyes cracked open the smallest bit.

“P...Pedro?” Her voice was weak and strained, and the young witch understood what Hope had meant when she’d said Josie was sick, surely someone should have made her see a doctor by now - or at least a healer?

“Hey, Jo,” he climbed up onto the bed beside her, careful not to jostle her too much as he settled himself into the space she slowly created for him, “Hope said you were sick. Do you want me to read?”

She shook her head weakly, breath already stuttering in her chest as she relaxed back into the bed, “Just… just lay here with me bud, I’m okay. I’m just tired.” As if to prove her point the older witch let out a jaw cracking yawn, eyes falling entirely closed as she drifted back off.

Pedro watched her sleep peacefully for a few moments, tracing slow patterns through the air as he layered cooling, calming and healing charms over the room before snuggling into her chest and falling to sleep, a content smile spreading over both their faces.

* * *

The crash of the door against the wall was harsh enough that Pedro fell off the bed in fright, a thump and a low groan from the other side telling him Josie had followed him to the floor. Light spilled into the room harshly as Lizzie flicked open the large curtains and the two sleepy witches cringed away from it like vampires without daylight rings.

“Pedro, thank the gods, what are you doing in here?” Hope rushed through the room, blue eyes blazing as she all but snatched the small witch off the floor in an effort to confirm he wasn’t hurt, “Didn’t we just talk about this? You’re not supposed to just wander off buddy! You’re supposed to stay with one of us.”

Large chocolate eyes peered up through thick lashes as the Tribrid rambled, “But I was with Josie, she’s sick - I was tryna make her feel better.”

Hope paused in her tirade at the quiet words, almost lost beneath her own panicked voice. Scanning the room she quickly found ‘Josie’, sat slouched in the far corner, eyes barely open as she struggled to pay attention to the goings on of the room after being forcefully woken.

Her breath caught in her chest at the look of absolute exhaustion the other girl wore and she was across the room in moments, eyes scanning the taller witch in much the same way they just had Pedro, looking for injuries that only existed in her panic stricken mind.

“...Jo? Are you okay?” A pale hand rested gently on the witches knee, concern flooded from the Tribrid in palpable waves, “Josie?”

Despite her best efforts, the brunette couldn’t find the strength to reply with as much as a nod - the Dark subdued and pained in the back of her mind. Heavy eyelids blinked clumsily as she struggled to focus on the wolf before her.

“Hope? What’s wrong with her?” Lizzie appeared in the corner of her vision, worry for her sister clearly at war with her fear of a trap being laid by the Dark, but Hope could see that neither the Dark nor Josie had it in them to do much of anything.

Sighing, she pushed up from her crouched position and turned to face the group that had followed her into the twins room, “I don’t know, she’s obviously not well. Maybe you should call your Dad?”

Like a switch had gone off Josie found herself abruptly filled with enough energy to stand up, wincing as the room spun around her and her knees shook violently, “‘m fine, jus’ tired.” She’d made it all of two steps before a sudden feeling of weightlessness took over and she was being cradled in two strong arms.

Hope huffed a laugh into the crown of her hair that was all exasperation and no amusement, “This seems to be a recurring theme Jo, maybe I just shouldn’t let you go this time?”

A tired grin stretched pillowy lips and a low hum answered the Tribrid as Josie turned restlessly in Hope’s embrace to press her face against the pale column of her throat, breathing deeply and reveling in the scent of pine and rain and orange blossoms that clung to the shorter girl's skin.

Cool fingers pressed to her flushed face and Josie struggled not to flinch away from their unwelcome presence. Hope had always run extra hot, one of the advantages of being a Tribrid, which meant it was more than obvious that someone else was currently touching her - something she hadn’t been and wasn’t prepared for in that moment.

Dark eyes cracked open slowly and the brunette breathed an internal sigh of relief that someone had had the presence of mind to shut the curtains again. Lizzie hovered over her, one hand still pressed to her burning face as she whispered urgently to MG and Josie found herself glad that she didn’t have the energy to swat her sisters hand away.

Peering up through thick lashes she met the intense stare of the wolf currently cradling her, azure eyes gave the impression of gazing into her soul and with every moment that they stayed locked into each other Josie felt a little more like herself.

An incessant itch had started in the base of her skull and distantly she recognised it as the Dark, but the being she had shared her mind and body with for the last couple weeks was silent, there was no fight or resistance or scathing remarks. 

The brunette pushed all thoughts of it aside as Hope brought her head down to rest their foreheads together, a contented smile playing at the edges of her lips. The wolf’s eyes slipped shut and Josie drank in every inch and plane of her face eagerly.

It had been a long time since she’d had the opportunity to simply bask in Hope’s presence - to just enjoy being around her and being able to look at her with all the love and affection the Dark had denied her of for so long.

Had convinced her she didn’t deserve, wasn’t worthy of and couldn’t provide for others.

Tears raced down her cheeks and she surged forward, connecting her lips with the pouty mouth of the Tribrid before her and gasping softly into the kiss at the warmth that pooled in her chest and slowly started to spread throughout her entire body.

Leaning back, she fluttered her eyes open slowly, scarcely drawing breath as she waited for the other girl to react. Blue eyes met brown and Hope sighed, smiling softly and wrinkling her nose in the way Josie had always found adorable, swaying slightly where she stood, “Come on, you should probably rest some more.”

Much as she wanted to object, Josie found herself still too exhausted to do anything more than nod slightly and snuggle back into the warmth and safety of Hope. She felt the Tribrid walk them over to the bed and not for the first time marvelled at how impossibly strong she was.

Cool air greeted her as she was lowered onto the bed, but she kept her hand firmly tangled in the material of Hope’s sweater, dragging the shorter girl down onto the blanket beside her.

Hope landed next to her with a small huff, but the smile still stretching her face only grew as the taller witch turned and snuggled back into her, moulding their bodies together in a way the wolf realised she’d been desperately missing for the last few months.

The creaking of the bed startled Hope enough that she jumped a little, eyes springing open only to land on the wiggling form of Pedro, who was making himself comfortable against Josie’s side. With a light blush coating her cheeks the Tribrid looked around the room at the amused faces of her friends, suddenly reminded that she wasn’t, in fact, alone with the taller witch.

MG was the first to move, eyes darting everywhere but toward Josie’s bed as he scratched the back of his neck awkwardly and shuffled toward the door, “I guess- everything’s okay? So I’m just gonna…” he waved nervously toward the door, now studying his shoes intensely, “yeah.”

In the time it took Hope to blink he’d disappeared from the room, the door barely whispering shut in the wake of his exit. The Tribrid chuckled, shrugging at the sleepy look Josie sent her and sitting up slightly to face the two witches still in the room.

Lizzie had started rummaging around Josie's desk, muttering to herself as she carelessly moved books, notes and trinkets alike in her search. 

Penelope stood by the door, she hadn't moved since entering the room, and to Hope's amusement was watching Josie intensely - until she noticed the Tribrids eyes on her, immediately blushing and looking away. 

A smirk settled on her lips as she flicked her eyes between the witch snuggled into her shoulder and the one across the room, deciding that now was the perfect opportunity to begin enacting her plan.

Wiggling her way up the bed till she was sat up, and smiling softly at the quiet grumbles of protest leaving Josie’s lips, she sent a quick burst of tingling magic across the room, grinning when Penelope jolted and looked up to glare at her.

“Come join us Pen, you know you want to.” Shock flew across the raveonettes features, eyes wide and mouth open as she glanced longingly at Josie where she lay oblivious on the bed.

Hope chuckled, patting the space beside her and wiggling her eyebrows, flashing her teeth in a predatory smile when the other girl went bright red before shuffling toward them and climbing gingerly onto the bed, hovering uncertainly by Hope’s side as she gazed down at the lightly snoozing witch.

“Are you sure about this, I don’t want to intrude, and this seems kind of-” Hope cut her off quickly by grabbing her arm and pulling her down, throwing her free arm around her shoulders and using little bursts of magic to maneuver her into a comfortable position facing Josie half tangled with her.

Josie hummed, crinkling her nose and moving further into Hope’s embrace, slotting one of her legs over Penelope’s where it had fallen across Hope and twisting her fingers into the fabric of her shirt to pull the shorter witch closer to her, smiling serenely.

“Hey Pen.” The words were quiet, muffled by the Tribrids shoulder and a layer of sleep but they brought a blinding smile to Penelope’s face, the witch stretching her hand up to trace her fingers down the side of a smooth tan cheek.

“Hey Jojo, you seem to be feeling better?” She whispered, voice gentle and aching and Hope had to look away as they started a whispered conversation, eyes welling at the soft familiarity both witches had obviously been missing since long before Penelope had left for Belgium.

Looking away from them allowed her eyes to fall on the final witch in the room, leaning against Josie’s desk with a gentle look on her face and what looked like the oldest blanket in the world clutched to her chest.

“Get in here Lizzie, Pedro can scootch up for you.” She looked briefly toward the witchling snuggled into Josie’s back, sticking her tongue out when she noticed him peering at her through bleary eyes and smirking when he frowned back.

With a sigh of much suffering the eight year old wriggled himself further onto Josie’s back, curling his short arms around her middle and burying his face in her shoulder before dropping quickly back into sleep.

Lizzie huffed from across the room, shaking her head fondly and moving silently over to the bed. Pausing at its side, she lent over slowly and gently slid the old and tattered blanket into Josie’s free hand, smoothing a few strands of hair out off her face before climbing fully onto the bed. 

Wrapping both Josie and Pedro in a loose hug, she slotted easily into Josie’s side and reminded Hope that for a long time the twins had shared a bed - courtesy of their shared codependency. 

They hadn’t shared a bed the entire time Hope and Josie had been dating before Malivore, Josie often opting to spend the night with Hope instead and the Tribrid suddenly found herself feeling guilty for hogging all that time with the Siphoner.

Honestly, she knew that the moments of separation from her twin had been good for Josie, but she’d failed to take into account how it must have been affecting Lizzie. The shorter girl vowed to herself in that moment that she’d do everything she could to make sure the twins spent enough time together once they’d solved the issue of the Dark.

Closing her eyes, she relaxed into the pillows and soaked in the moment - she hadn’t been surrounded by so much pure, unconditional love since before her parents had died and frankly she was loathe to break the moment, preferring instead to allow it to surround her like a warm blanket and lull her off into the first peaceful sleep she’d had since returning from the hell dimension that was Malivore.

Silence settled around the room, broken only by the soft snores of Pedro and the occasional murmur from one of the witches crammed into the barely big enough bed. Hope’s last thought before drifting off into a deep sleep was that there was definitely some sort of strange glow going on beneath her nose, but she couldn’t bring herself to lift her head - or her eyelids - enough to check.

* * *

Josie blinked groggy eyes open and looked around in somewhat of a daze, one hand absentmindedly pulling the neck of her shirt away from her clammy chest as she huffed a breath and strained to sit up, far too hot to stay within the pile of people currently in her bed.

Arms and legs pinned her down from multiple sides, Hope’s hot breath feeling like it was scalding her neck even as the Tribrid radiated heat beneath her. To her left Lizzie and Pedro crowded into her back, making her skin itch and her face flush. To her right, Penelope snored softly into Hope’s collarbone one hand laced through the Siphoners sweaty grip.

Disentangling her hand from the raveonettes, she shuffled around on the bed, trying in vain to create some space between herself and the other occupants. As it quickly became apparent she wouldn’t be able to free herself the witch began to panic, feeling her heart-rate skyrocket and an uncomfortably hot, sticky feeling welling in her chest.

Magic built in harsh waves, pooling in the bottom of her stomach to churn sickeningly with the harsh feeling of being trapped and vulnerable while in a weak state. Shutting her eyes harshly, the witch attempted to take several deep breaths, resting her forehead against Hope’s shoulder and counting backwards from ten.

Pedro moved behind her, pressing himself closer into her back and sighing deeply against her shoulder blade before settling back down - and Josie could have cried in frustration, body beginning to ache from the heat pressing into her from all sides and head swimming.

Her stomach cramped dangerously and all at once Josie knew that if she didn’t move with urgency she was going to be sick and damn the people lay around her. Pressure built behind her eyes as she struggled to find a way to free herself without jostling her stomach too badly.

Several long seconds passed and Josie found herself still entangled, and growing desperate. A particularly painful twinge rocketed through the bottom of her stomach and tears filled her eyes, the pressure building and the feeling of helplessness suffusing her.

With a shuddering gasp and the rush of accidental magic, the brunette found herself very suddenly on the floor in front of the bathroom door, clear across the other side of the room. Purple smoke filled her periphery vision, and she briefly wondered how it was she’d done the Darks teleportation spell - it wasn’t magic she’d even imagined before sharing a body with the malevolent presence. 

Four heads shot up in surprise from the bed, four pairs of eyes darting worriedly about the room before setting upon her. Hope practically sprang from the bed in her rush to get to her side - anxiety carved into her features as she watched Josie’s face crumple

"Jo!" She saw Hope's mouth move, knew exactly what she'd said, but failed entirely to hear her through the ringing in her ears. Magic snapped at her fingertips and her whole body seemed to glow with an eerie purple light. 

Something flickered at the corner of her eye, burnt ember tendrils of hair floating palescently beside her and she ached to turn around, but Hope’s wide eyes were switching rapidly from amber to blue and Josie feared if she glanced away for even a second the wolf might just lose her composure and go into full blown panic mode.

Trying to take a deep breath proved to be not only more exhausting than she’d have thought possible, but also a foolish thing to do - as aching coughs wracked her lungs, she felt the tenuous grip she’d had on her magic slip away.

For a moment everything was still, her heart; Hope in front of her; the dust in the air - and all at once, the world began to move again. A sound like a muted explosion went off all around her, books, picture frames and small potted plants flew around the room as they were caught in the violent maelstrom of magic pouring out of Josie in waves.

A shimmering dome of a gold dust like substance formed around herself and the Tribrid, blocking out the other occupants of the room who stood staring in awe and not a small amount of worry at Josie, in the eye of the tornado.

She met their eyes briefly, reading the shock and confusion and concern they each held, before locking her gaze with Hope’s. The shorter girl kneeled at her side, face a picture of wonder as she quickly tried to take in everything that was happening in the moment. 

Her eye’s reflected the gold of the magic around them so purely that it was impossible for Josie to tell what colour they actually were. The coughing eased as she stared at Hope, marvelling a little herself at the feat she had someone performed.

And then her head exploded in agony. A million thoughts and memories rushed past - none of them familiar. 

She was a young woman in a village, armor adorned her chest and arms and a large battle axe swung from her shoulder to rest against her back. Burnt ember hair hung in bloody tendrils around her face, long having been ripped free from its braid. Scars littered her arms, covered in large swaths by the runic tattoos she seemed to be covered in. 

Her whole life she’d been preparing for her death, and now as she watched the savage invaders rip into the home she and her people had painstakingly built over the years - burning it to the ground and slitting the throats of every man, woman and child they encountered.

Blood dripped down her thigh from a sword wound, coating her leg in the warm, sticky liquid and distracting her briefly from the burns now layering the right side of her body from when she’d pulled a young boy from a burning hut.

She watched her people, her family, be slaughtered by the dozen as more and more of the foreign invaders poured into the clearing she’d lived in her whole life. 

Rage suffused every part of her. Rage, and pain, and loss, and a feeling of helplessness that far outweighed any other instance in her life.

Never had an event shaken so truly to the core. Not when she was six summers past and had nearly drowned after falling through the thin ice over the lake. Not when she was eight summers and had watched her mother blow herself up with a spell the whole village had warned her against casting.

Not even when she was fourteen summers and had seen her land ravaged by wildfires, a brutal winter, famine and disease.

There was nothing she could compare this to, no situation which could have prepared her. An arrow sailed through the air, clipping her hip and lodging itself into the tree behind her. Another followed swiftly, this one sinking deep in the muscle above her heart and he knew that these were now her final moments.

Josie watched through eyes that were not her own as this brave warrior girl enacted one last spell. There were no words, no sacrifice or dance - just a deep meditative calm, and a sense of urgency, before her whole body began to glow a deep purple - lit up from every angle by the runes painting her skin.

Her eyes flew open and the world burned before her - the darkness born of an eighteen year old girl's desperation not to lose her family, her home, her life.

Years slipped by and the girl wandered, slightly outside the realm of men, only able to look in through another, needing another to survive. After so many centuries her past had become muted, leaving behind very few clear pieces.

She went forward with only her rage, pain, and need to conquer and survive - the gentle, loving girl she once had been now twisted and warped into someone different, someone unrecognisable even to herself.

Terrible fates befell those who encountered her, her anchors to the mortal plane becoming her victims, and those around them suffering in unimaginable ways as families, homes, lives, where ripped apart in much the same way hers had been.

Hope cupped her face in her hand, panicked lips forming words Josie had no hope of hearing as tears gathered in her eyes.

The magic that had formed around them glowed hotter for a moment, becoming almost solid, and Josie gasped. There, floating just to her left, was the girl from her vision. Her long ember hair pulled into a loose braid, axe slung about her and blood splattered across every noticeable inch of her body that wasn’t covered in runes.

“Åse? What?” She saw Hope’s face scrunch in bewilderment, realising that she obviously couldn’t see the ghostly image of the warrior girl before her, and if anything became more confused.

“I have lingered here too long, Josette. My life has been too long, and I have brought a great deal of suffering to people who did not deserve it.” Her voice was deep, raspy, an accent teasing at the edges of it that reminded the Siphoner of Hope’s aunt Freya.

“You have many people who love you here. This little wolf more than I think you know, more than perhaps she even knows.” A pale hand reached out, cupping her cheek over Hope’s hand - and the Tribrid jolted, looking at her hand strangely, as though she could feel Åse’s touch.

“Do not look so sad child, you have taught me a great many things - and maybe I have taught you somethings as well? As much as they may have been unintended.” A light chuckle left her pale lips, and Josie could only watch in growing sadness as the image of her slowly began to fade away.

The crushing pain on her chest eased the moment the ghostly visage was gone from sight, her head lighter and clearer than it had been for months. Her heart sang as she realised that it was all over, she was finally free of the Dark, and yet she fell forward dejectedly into Hope’s arms, tears already streaming down her face.

“She killed herself, so that I could live. I lived her whole life with her, every day, every fight, h-how… how she died,” Hope’s shirt was getting wet under her cheek, the other witch gently carding her hand though long brunette locks and making little shushing noises, “How am I supposed to feel right now, Hope?” 

Blue eyes shone down at her, the dome of golden magic that had surrounded them finally fading out and letting their true colour through at last, “ Be happy, she’s at peace now Jo. Be happy for her. And so so delighted that she’s given you back to yourself, to me."

Josie looked at Hope, suddenly feeling as though this might be the first time she was truly seeing her. Hair wild from their impromptu nap, eyes red and watery from the barely restrained emotions they held - and the depth of those emotions, it blew Josie away. She’d often compared Hope’s eyes to the ocean, but only now was she seeing how accurate the comparison was, their blue depths endless and brimming.

She surged forward, stopping barely a breath away from the shorter girl's face. Eyes falling shut, she sighed deeply before resting their foreheads together, one hand coming up to tangle in the baby hairs at the nape of Hope’s neck, the other resting on her waist.

Breathing deeply, the Siphoner hummed as the forest filled her nose, pine and rain and the electric touch of magic. She’d missed the way Hope smelled. The way she felt, the way she spoke, the way she held her as though she were precious.

Josie brought their lips together in a soft kiss, sighing internally and biting back the tears that threatened to spill over as she touched the Tribrid for the first time in months without the lingering presence of another, or having to fight tooth and nail just to steal the moment.

Smiling as Hope hummed into the kiss, she pulled away slightly, almost laughing at how the other girl chased her lips and whined in frustration, “Gods, I love you, Hope Mikaelson.”

Ocean eyes blinked open slowly, a smile tugging at the corners of full lips, “I love you too, Josette Saltzman. So damn much.” She leant forward, fully intent on reconnecting their lips but was interrupted by the clearing of a throat behind them.

“As sickeningly sweet as all this is, you are going to let the rest of us see my sister at some point today, right?” Hope groaned dramatically, dropping her head to Josie’s shoulder to hide the smile Lizzie’s fake sarcasm had brought forth and poking the witch in the side when she giggled.

Pressing one more kiss to the top of Hope’s head, the brunette stood up slowly, no longer used to having such free control of her own body and exhausted from the magical surge she’d just been through, taking slightly shaky steps towards her twin and engulfing her in a hug.

“I’ve missed you too, Lizzie.” The blonde practically melted into her, wrapping her arms tightly around her waist and burying her face in the side of her neck, silent tears making Josie’s shoulder wet, but she ignored it, holding her sister tighter and rocking them gently where they stood.

“Don’t do that again, Jo. You’re not allowed to leave me again, okay?” The words shattered against Josie’s collar and she nodded, humming a tune too quiet for anyone but Lizzie - and Hope of course - to hear.

When Lizzie looked up with a smile, Hope relaxed, the tune clearly having had the intended effect. The twins gazed at each other, and the Tribrid got the feeling they were having one of their weird ‘twin telepathy’ moments, before giggling and falling back into a hug.

Pedro all but collapsed into her lap, eyes still bleary from being woken up suddenly and hair flattened to one side of his head, “Is Jo okay now?” 

Hope grabbed him into a hug, kissing the top of his head and running a hand through his curls in an effort to straighten them out, “She is buddy, she’s our Josie again.” Her eyes locked with Penelope’s as she spoke, the witch stood somewhat awkwardly in the middle of the room, and she patted the floor beside her, smiling as the ravonette shuffled over shyly to sit beside her.

Knocking their shoulders she leaned into the other witch, sighing at how the twins had fallen into their own world. Eyes burned into the side of her head, and she met them with a raised eyebrow, waiting patiently for Penelope to gather her words.

“So that’s it?” At Hope’s confused look she continued, “We all accidentally fall asleep in Jo’s bed and she’s cured? No more Dark, it’s all over now?” Understanding dawned on the Tribrid, her lips curling into a grimace as she shuffled the sleepy witchling in her lap so she could properly face the witch next to her.

“No more Dark, she’s gone - off to the next great adventure. But it’s not over, not for Josie, and not for us.” Penelope frowned, one hand running through her hair as she tapped anxiously against her knee with the other.

“What do you mean?”

Hope glanced at Pedro curled up in her lap, once more snoring softly, and the twins now sat on Lizzie’s bed deep in conversation, “We don’t know what damage the Dark did, what she might have left behind, what Josie may not even realise she’s carrying yet.”

Penelope’s eyes widened, darting over to rest on the brunette in concern, unconsciously reaching a hand toward Hope and jumping when the wolf grabbed it, tangling their fingers and squeezing reassuringly.

“She’s okay right now, Pen, don’t stress.” The Tribrid chuckled, smiling when hazel eyes focused back on her, “But we all need to do our part to keep her that way. Whatever she says, we’re all a little to blame for what happened. None of us were here to notice how depressed she was, or how vulnerable to dark witches with bad intentions she’d become.” 

Flicking her eyes quickly over to the Siphoner, she sighed, “We need to make sure she knows how loved she is, and how much we need her. Gods know it wasn’t just me falling apart without her.” She chuckled in a self-deprecating way, resting her head on Pedro’s and choking back the sob fighting its way out of her throat.

“Hope none of this was your fault.” The witch raised a hand to cut off the argument she knew was coming, “You were in Malivore, after sacrificing yourself to save us all. And it took the Dark to bring back everyone’s memories of you, what could you have done before that? Convinced Josie, who had no idea who you even were, that you loved her enough to fight off the Dark?”

The shorter girl huffed, rolling her eyes and pouting when she realised she didn’t have an argument for that, “Besides, I’d just gotten back from Europe with no clue as to why I was even there in the first place, Lizzie had just gone to Europe with their mom - and we both know it was Josie’s choice not to go.

“I’m not saying we couldn’t have all done more,” Her gaze strayed back to the brunette, both girls grinning when she glanced toward them, “But we did what we could, when we could, and we’ll keep doing that.”

Hope smirked, looking back at the witch slyly, “When did you get so wise, Park?” 

“Oh fuck off, Mikaelson.” They laughed, sharing a knowing smile when the twins looked over at them from the bed in confusion. “Control your girlfriend, Jo.”

The Siphoner smiled warily, getting up from the bed to sit beside Hope and lean into her, wiggling her eyebrows when she noticed their still joined hands and grinning through a yawn, brushing her fingers through Pedro’s hair to move it out of his face.

“Now you’re asking for the impossible, Pen.” Hope nudged her gently, sending a spark of magic at her and pouting. Josie just laughed, stretching her legs out to rest on Lizzie as she settled onto the floor beside them and sighing happily.

Silence fell over the room once more and the witches relaxed into it, happy just to be together again, without the threat of the Dark or Black magic, or a long forgotten monster to threaten their peace. 

Pedro snored suddenly very loudly, startling them all, and they giggled quietly, rising as one and leaving the room on light feet to take him back to his room in the Junior school, followed the whole way by the faintest trace of purple magic, and the silently echoing laugh of a girl long departed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there it is. Like I said in the first note, I haven't actually read this whole thing through, I've stared at certain parts of it so long it was starting to be all I could think of, so if it doesn't work in any way, there's anything really out of place or not entirely completed before being moved on from, please let me know.
> 
> For anyone reading Architects, there will most definitely be a Christmas update as I've already promised it to someone! And if anyone reading lives/has lived in New Orleans, or just feels they know it well enough and would like to have some input into a future chapter of AoOD, I'm really struggling with something and would appreciate any help you could offer.
> 
> I hope you've enjoyed it, please let me know what you've thought and thank you for reading!
> 
> This work is dedicated to Naoko, I hope I've done your idea justice and you've loved reading it just as much as I've loved writing it.
> 
> Thanks, WK7

**Author's Note:**

> So the original prompt for this fic was pretty much just 'Josie needs a hug' and then random images and thoughts that bubbled down to everyone should just hug Josie till the dark f's off, if it's not apparent, it's grown a little from there.
> 
> I've got some of the next chapter (of which there is only one more) typed up, and a pretty good idea of how it's gonna end, but as I keep proving, I'm terrible at keeping to any kind of schedule, so all I'll say is, I'll have it done as soon as I can.
> 
> Critiscm is appreciated, let me know what you think, I love to hear it!
> 
> Thanks, WK7


End file.
